Pakistan must walk away from terror for dialogue: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked Pakistan to distance itself from terrorism if it wants a dialogue with India.

"India alone cannot walk the path of peace. It also has to be Pakistan's journey to make. Pakistan must walk away from terror if it wants to walk towards dialogue with India," said Modi in his inaugural address at the second edition of "Raisina Dialogue", India's flagship geo-political conference.

Following the September 18 attack on an Indian army camp in Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir, leaving 19 dead and the retaliatory attack of the Indian Army on terrorist launching-pads across the Line of Control in the intervening night of September 28 and 29, relations between the two countries are at a new low.

India declined to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit to be held in Islamabad in November and, as several other member states followed its lead, the meet was postponed.

On terrorism, Modi said: "Our strong belief in delinking terrorism from religion, and rejecting artificial distinctions between good and bad terrorism, are now a global talking point."

"And, those in our neighbourhood who support violence, perpetrate hatred, and export terror stand isolated and ignored," he added.

Discussing how non-state actors are impacting the world, Modi said: "Instability, violence, conflict, extremism, exclusion and transnational threats continue to proliferate in dangerous directions. And, non-state actors are significant contributors to the spread of such challenges."

"Institutions and architectures built for a different world, by a different world, seem outdated. Posing a barrier to effective multilateralism."

The dialogue's theme this year is "The New Normal: Multilateralism with Multi-Polarity".

--IANS

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